Sprayer

ABSTRACT

A sprayer comprising a sprayer body having a cylinder, a check valve for permitting only a flow of spray material into the cylinder, a piston reciprocatively inserted in the cylinder, said piston having a passage therethrough, a swirl member positioned in the passage, wherein upon backward movement of the piston the swirl member opens the passage to atomize the material and upon forward movement of the piston the member closes the passage to introduce the material through the check valve into the cylinder.

o in time States Patent 1 1 1111 3,762,647

T611121 1 Oct. 2, 1973 [54] R Y/ER 2,921,747 1/1960 Burman 239/464 3,112,074 11/1963 Green r 1 239/463 X 1 1 lnvenmrl 6 1 Tada 3,379,381 4/1968 Decaux 239 493 x Nlshmokanobui shmagawa-kuv 3,627,206 12 1971 Boris 239/321 Tokyo, Japan 3,685,739 8/1972 Vanier 239/571 X l22| Filedi Al g- 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1211 APPL 2 3 353 67,940 7/1969 Germany 239/583 I Primary Examiner-Robert S. Ward, Jr. [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Anomey csbrge B. oujcvolk Aug. 26, 1971 Japan r. 46/64722 Mar. 25, 1972 Japan 47/35403 ABSTRACT 52 11.5. c1 239/321, 239/464, 239/476, A p y comprising p y y having a cylinder,

239/493, 239 9 239 52 239 57 239/533 a check valve for permitting only a flow of spray mate- 5 IL (1] 1305 9/04, 1305 1/34 3051, 1 1 00 rial into the cylinder, a piston reCiprocatively inserted [581 Field of Search 239/321, 329, 401, in the y n r, Said piston having a passage there 4 3 4 4 47 432 4 7 433 491 492 through, a swirl member positioned in the passage, 9 94 9 527 52 52 54 5 9472 wherein upon backward movement of the piston the 574, 583 swirl member opens the passage to atomize the material and upon forward movement of the piston the 5 R f es Cit d member closes the passage to introduce the material UNITED STATES PATENTS through the check valve into the cylinder.

2,605,142 7/1952 Gold et al. 239/464 X 10 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures 1. T a i 4 I H1228 1 27 2 1 11 x l 1 1 19 1 pmm nncfzms v r 3.762.647

SHEET 20F 3 ll H FIG. 4

PATENTEUnm 21m SHEET 3 BF 3 FIG? FIG. 8

SPRAYER The present invention relates to a manual sprayer.

A sprayer of this kind has a sprayer body provided with a cylinder, in which a hollow piston slides back and forth. When the piston is moved toward the rear end of the cylinder, the liquid is sprayed through a swirl member disposed in the piston, and when the piston is moved toward the front end of the cylinder, the liquid is sucked through a first check valve into the cylinder.

To a sprayer presently in general use, a second check valve other than the above-mentioned first check valve is indispensable in order to lower the pressure in the cylinder so that the liquid can be sucked in the cylinder. The provision of said second check valve makes the construction of the sprayer complicated, and the production more time-consuming, and results in a higher cost of the sprayer.

The object of the present invention is to provide a manual sprayer simple in construction and low in manufacturing cost.

According to the present invention, a swirl member is designed not only to atomize liquid effectively but to reduce the pressure in the cylinder, thereby sucking up the liquid. Owing to this specific function of the swirl member, the sprayer according to this invention can dispense with the above-mentioned second check valve, and therefore can be made in a simple construction.

The present invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed explanation when taken in connection with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of one embodiment of the sprayer according to the present invention;

FIG. 2a is an enlarged sectional view of the piston with the swirl member in it;

FIG. 2b is a side sectional view of the piston and swirl member taken along the line ll in FIG. 20;

FIGS. 3a and 3b are enlarged sectional views of the front end of the piston, and show the position of the swirl member at spraying and liquid sucking, respectively;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the valve used in the embodiment of FIG. 1 for preventing pressure reduction of the container;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another sprayercontainer connection;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another container having on its bottom a valve for preventing pressure reduction of the container;

FIG. 7 shows the valve used in the embodiment of FIG. 6 for preventing pressure reduction other than those illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the bottom portion of still another container having a valve for preventing pressure reduction.

Referring to FIG. 1, the sprayer of the present invention is constituted of a sprayer body 1 having a cavity Le. a cylinder 2 opening at one end and a liquid passage 3 communicating with the cylinder at one end and opening at the lower portion of the sprayer body 1. Firmly attached to the body 1 is a liquid container 4 which will be described hereinafter.

When the sprayer is sold, a cap 5 is securely attached to the container 4 by means of an adhesive tape 6 of, for instance, vinyl chloride.

To the upper end of the sprayer body 1, a lever 7 having a hole 9 is rockably attached by means of a pin 8. In said hole 9, there is inserted one end of a piston 10. The other end of said piston 10 is slidably inserted in the cylinder from the opening. The lever 7 has side walls each with a Ushaped notch 11 into which fitted is a pin 12 protruding from either side of the piston 10. Further, there is provided a spring seat 13 in the closed end of cylinder, and on said spring seat a compression spring 14 is so mounted as to push the piston 10 toward the open end of the cylinder 2. Against the biasing force of the spring 14 the piston 10 slides to the closed end of the cylinder when the lever 7 is rocked in the direction of arrow A as the U-shaped notches 11 push the pins 12 of piston 10. When the lever 7 is released, the compression spring 13 pushes the piston 10 toward the open end of the cylinder 2, and the lever 7 is rocked in the direction of arrow B.

At the connection of the cylinder 2 and the liquid passage 3, there is arranged a check valve 15, which is so designed as to permit the liquid to flow into the cylinder 2 from the passage 3 but not the other way around.

The piston 10 consists of a sliding member 16 moving back and forth in the cylinder 2 and a cap 17 firmly fitted on the sliding member 16 and having a nozzle hole 18 at its end. Within said sliding member 16, there is formed a cylinder-like cavity 19 which communicates with the cylinder 2 via a hole 20. Said nozzle hole 18, cavity 19 and hole 20 form a main liquid passage running through the piston 10. In the cavity 19 between the bottom of the cap 17 and the front end of the sliding member 16 which is made flat, a swirl member 22 is slidably disposed. Said swirl member 22 has, as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, a hexagonal section (or any other polygonal section) and its edges 23 contact the inner wall of cap 17. As a result, there are formed subliquid passages 24 between the sides of the swirl member 22 and the inner wall of the cap 17.

The tip of the swirl member 22 is formed as a truncated cone and has a round recess 25 at the center of its end surface opposite the cylinder 2. From the recess 25 extend grooves 26 parallel the radial directions of the swirl member 22.

By the sprayer of such construction, the liquid is sprayed in the following manner. When the lever 7 is moved in the direction of arrow A and the piston 10 slides toward the inner end of the cylinder 2, the liquid filling the cylinder and the cavity 19 pushes swirl member 22 onto the bottom of the cap 17, and consequently flows into the recess 25 through the sub passages 24 and grooves 26. The liquid then swirls in the recess 25 and is jetted in spray out of the nozzle hole 18.

When the lever 7 is released and the piston 10 is moved toward the outer end of the cylinder 2, the swirl member 22 comes into contact with the end of the sliding member 16 to close the front sub passages 24. Simultaneously, the pressure in the cylinder 2 and the cavity 19 is reduced, and the check valve 15 is opened to permit the liquid to flow into the cylinder 2 through the liquid passage 3. Thus, swirl member 22 functions also as a check valve for reducing the pressure in the cylinder 2.

The sprayer of the present invention is further provided with a rod 27 extending from the spring seat 13 and passing through hole 20. In the cavity 19, a head 28 is integrally formed with the end of the rod 27. Said rod 27 and head 28 are combined into a piston valve, which closes the hole only when the piston 10 is placed in the foremost position.

There will now be described the construction of the sprayer body-container connection.

The sprayer body 1 has formed a tapered connection neck 29, at the lower end of which is formed a truncated conical recess 30. On the middle of the bottom of recess 30, there stands a tubular protrusion 31 into which a pipe 32 is inserted to communicate with the liquid passage 3.

Said recess of the sprayer body 1 receives a truncated conical neck 33 of the container 4. Said neck 33 has serrations 34 on its periphery and frictionally contacts with the inner wall of the recess 30. The recess 30 has a ring 35 protruding from the lower end of its inner wall. Said ring 35 engages with the lowest serration of neck 33, thereby strongly connecting the container 4 to the sprayer body. In addition to this, a clamp ring 36 clamps the lower portion of the neck 29 to more firmly connect the container 4 to sprayer body 1.

In said neck 29, a tiny hole 37 is perforated to communicate the recess 30 with the atmosphere. A check valve 38 is disposed on the bottom of the recess 30. Said check valve 38 has an M-shaped section and is made of an elastic material such as synthetic resins, and consists, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, of a central tubular portion 39 securely mounted on the tubular protrusion 31 and a thin skirt portion 40, whose hem elastically touches the inner wall of the recess 30 a little below tiny hole 37. Consequently, when the pressure in the container 4 is reduced, air passes through the hole 37, bends the skirt portion 40 and easily flows into the container 4 through between the hem of the skirt portion 40 and the inner wall of the recess 30. If the sprayer, for example, is accidentally overturned and the liquid in the container 4 tends to out, the hem of skirt portion 40 out, the hem of skirt portion is pushed onto the tiny hole 37 to close the same, thereby preventing the liquid from adversely flowing out through the tiny hole 37.

According to another embodiment of this invention illustrated in FIG. 5, a sprayer body I and a container 4 are intergrated, and a circular bottom plate 41 is provided at the bottom portion of the container 4. Said bottom plate 41 has a peripheral flange which is secured on the inner wall of the container 4 by means of, for example, welding. There is made in the bottom plate 41a opening 42 through which the liquid is poured into the container 4. When the container is filled with the liquid, the opening 42 may be either sealed or closed with a lid which is detachably provided so that re-flllings of the container 4 can be made. A check valve 38 is, like that used in the embodiment of FIG. I, disposed in the recess of the neck of the sprayer body I. If the sprayer body and the container are integrated, the sprayer becomes simpler in construction and is therefore easily assembled. In this case, a check valve for preventing pressure reduction in the container may be disposed on the bottom plate of the container.

In the embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 6, a tubular member 43 having a U-shaped recess 44 protrudes from the middle portion ofa bottom plate 41, and a tubular member 45 having a flange 46 is disposed on the lower surface of the bottom plate 41 right beneath the tubular member 43. The U-shaped recess 44 of the tubular member 43 is communicated with the interior 47 of the ring-shaped member 45 by a through hole 48. In the bottom of the U-shaped recess 44, there is made a circular groove 49 into which a check valve 50 is fitted.

Said check valve 50 is made of an elastic material and consists, as shown in FIG. 7, of a funnel-shaped tubular part 51 the thickness of which decreases toward its open end, and of a tubular part 52 having long U- shaped notches 53 and extending in longitudinal direction thereof. Said tubular parts 51 and 52 are separated one from the other by a partition wall 54 disposed therebetween. The lower end of the tubular part 52 is firmly fitted in the circular groove 49, and the open end of the funnel-shaped part 51 elastically touches the inner wall of the U-shaped recess 44. With the check valve 50 disposed in such manner, air flows into container 4 through the hole 48, notches 52 and through between the open end of the tubular part 51 and the inner wall of the U-shaped recess 44. However, the liquid in the container 4 never leaks out since the open end of the funnel-shaped part 51 is brought into a strong contact with the inner wall of the U-shaped recess 44 by the liquid pressure.

On the inner wall of the flange 46 of the ring-shaped member 45, a disk 55 perforated with tiny holes is mounted so that the check valve 50 may not be dislocated from its place by, for instance, a slender rod which is inserted, by change, through the hole 48.

Check valve 50 may, as illustrated in FIG. 8, detachably be disposed beneath the opening 42 of the bottom plate 41. Referring to FIG. 8, a ring 56 surrounding the opening 42 is threaded on its periphery. With the periphery of the ring 56 there is threadedly engaged a cap 57, which is a combination of the tubular member 43 and the ring-shaped member 45 as shown in FIG. 6. A check valve 50 is securedly placed in the cap 57. On the periphery of the cap 57, a clamp ring 58 is disposed to secure a disk 55 perforated with tiny holes.

As the combination of the check valve 50, cap 57 and disk 55 functions as if it is a lid for covering opening 42, the container of FIG. 8 is simpler in construction than that of FIG. 6.

What is claimed is:

I. A sprayer comprising:

a sprayer body having a cylinder with an opening at one side;

a first check valve for introducing spray material into the cylinder;

a piston member slidably inserted in the cylinder from said opening, said piston member having a main passage therethrough;

reciprocating means for moving the piston member back and forth in the cylinder; and

a swirl member disposed in the main passage to be axially movable to atomize the spray material flowing through the main passage from the cylinder, said swirl member being adapted to open the main passage by increased pressure of the material due to the backward movement of the piston member and to close the passage by reduced pressure in the cylinder due to the forward movement of the piston member.

2. A sprayer according to claim 1, wherein said swirl member has a polygonal cross section, the edges of the swirl member abutting on the inner surface of the main passage to form a plurality of sub passages'between the peripheral surface of the swirl member and the inner surface of the main passage, said sub passages being opened and closed by axial movement of the swirl member.

3. A sprayer according to claim 2, wherein said swirl member has a recess in the end surface opposite to the cylinder, and grooves extending from the recess to the sub passages.

4. A sprayer according to claim 1, wherein said reciprocating means includes a lever for moving the piston member backward in cylinder and a spring for urging the piston member forward in the cylinder.

5. A sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising a piston valve for closing the main passage as the piston member is placed in the foremost position.

6. A sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising a container for containing the spray material and a second check valve arranged in the container to prevent reduced pressure in the container.

7. A sprayer according to claim 6, wherein the body and container are integrally formed in one-piece.

8. A sprayer according to claim 7, wherein the second check valve is disposed on the bottom of the container.

9. A sprayer according to claim 6, wherein the body has a first neck portion and a recess formed in the neck portion, and the container has a second neck portion inserted in the recess of the first neck portion, said second neck portion having serrations at its periphery to be frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the recess.

10. A sprayer according to claim 9, wherein the second check valve is disposed in the recess of the first neck portion. 

1. A sprayer comprising: a sprayer body having a cylinder with an opening at one side; a first check valve for introducing spray material into the cylinder; a piston member slidably inserted in the cylinder from said opening, said piston member having a main passage therethrough; reciprocating means for moving the piston member back and forth in the cylinder; and a swirl member disposed in the main passage to be axially movable to atomize the spray material flowing through the main passage from the cylinder, said swirl member being adapted to open the main passage by increased pressure of the material due to the backward movement of the piston member and to close the passage by reduced pressure in the cylinder due to the forward movement of the piston member.
 2. A sprayer according to claim 1, wherein said swirl member has a polygonal cross section, the edges of the swirl member abutting on the inner surface of the main passage to form a plurality of sub passages between the peripheral surface of the swirl member and the inner surface of the main passage, said sub passages being opened and closed by axial movement of the swirl member.
 3. A sprayer according to claim 2, wherein said swirl member has a recess in the end surface opposite to the cylinder, and grooves extending from the recess to the sub passages.
 4. A sprayer according to claim 1, wherein said reciprocating means includes a lever for moving the piston member backward in cylinder and a spring for urging the piston member forward in the cylinder.
 5. A sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising a piston valve for closing the main passage as the piston member is placed in the foremost position.
 6. A sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising a container for containing the spray material and a second check valve arranged in the container to prevent reduced pressure in the container.
 7. A sprayer according to claim 6, wherein the body and container are integrally formed in one-piece.
 8. A sprayer according to claim 7, wherein the second check valve is disposed on the bottom of the container.
 9. A sprayer according to claim 6, wherein the body has a first neck portion and a recess formed in the neck portion, and the container has a second neck portion inserted in the recess of the first neck portioN, said second neck portion having serrations at its periphery to be frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the recess.
 10. A sprayer according to claim 9, wherein the second check valve is disposed in the recess of the first neck portion. 